I hope you will not come alone
by Artemitena
Summary: Anna invites Elsa for another family reunion, insisting to meet Elsa's significant other. Elsa's wish is to introduce her lover to her family, but is afraid they may not accept them... Elsamaren one-shot. Written for @sobering stairs from Twitter.


_And I hope this time you will not come alone!_

Elsa sighed after reading the last words from Anna's letter. Even after moving out of the palace and into the Enchanted Forest, her sister meant the world for her. Nevertheless, she was still annoying sometimes.

Sometimes it was Anna who visited Elsa, but not for the past few months. It has been Elsa's turn for a while, since Anna discovered she was expecting a child. Travelling this far and staying in the wild forest was not an option in her condition. Elsa happily would go to her old home every few weeks, usually bringing Bruni and Nokk as companion.

The worst part about it was that since she got married to Kristoff, Anna turned really invasive about Elsa's love life. And when she became pregnant, it only got worse. She insisted Elsa can't be single any longer, she needs a boyfriend and a child. Or three. Elsa would always end the discussions as soon as the topic came up, but it didn't stop Anna from starting new ones at the nearest occasion. At some point other people in the castle caught up with the queen and even Kai and Gerda couldn't speak to Elsa without mentioning some handsome gentleman who was surely just waiting for her.

What Anna didn't know was Elsa wasn't lonely. At all. In fact, she's never felt as happy as now, having Honeymaren at her side. Every day it became more and more clear that that's the woman Elsa wants to spent her whole life with. But she was nervous just at the idea of telling Anna she has a girlfriend. And worse, telling her it's been official for nearly a year already, but she was too scared to speak.

"Enough is enough", she said to herself. She sighed deeply, leaning back onto the ground. She was at the river all alone, she wanted to read Anna's letter and think about the response in peace.

At least she thought she was alone.

"What's enough?", she heard a familiar voice and smiled unwillingly. Honeymaren appeared from between the trees, came up slowly and sat next to Elsa. The latter reached for her girlfriend's hand and squeezed it gently.

"I got a letter from Anna", she explained. Honeymaren raised her eyebrows.

"And that's what made you-"

"No!", Elsa protested, sitting up suddenly. "It's just the thing that..."

She hesitated. It was a painful thing to talk about. In the Forest it was a well known thing that the two were a couple and no one had any problems with that. That's why Honeymaren couldn't understand why Elsa didn't want to share her happiness with her kingdom too. It seemed natural not to hide it, but Elsa didn't even want to think about it.

"She wants me to come over next Saturday", former queen admitted, looking at the other girl. "And she wants me to come with... someone."

Honeymaren couldn't help but chuckle. It wasn't a warm chuckle saying she's amused by Elsa's silliness, it was more of "I told you" chuckle.

"So?", she tilted her head, waiting for a moment when her lover invites her for the journey.

"Honey..."

"Yes, I will gladly go with you! Thank you, sweetheart." She leaned in and kissed Elsa's cheek softly. Elsa smiled sadly.

Their social position was slightly different. What Honeymaren was doing with her life was all hers, and no one could take it away from her. Besides, her family was happy with her. On the other hand, Elsa kept thinking about how her actions may reflect on how Anna and their whole Royal Family was perceived. For some, Elsa's abdication was horrendous and selfish. A lot of people missed their queen and didn't understand why she chose this life.

"No sad face", Honeymaren commended. "We have places to go."

"Honey, I don't want you to get hurt", Elsa pulled out her final card.

"And who's gonna hurt me?", the other girl laughed out loud. She didn't care about anyone else, as long as she didn't have to hide her love.

"I'm serious. Arendelle has more people than Northuldra. What if someone decides we're doing something bad?"

"It's not them to decide, Elsa." Honeymaren stood up and reached out to help Elsa. She gladly accepted her hand and quickly got up too. "You're the goddamn queen, who would dare to mess with you?"

"I _was_ the queen", Elsa corrected her. "Besides..."

Honeymaren shut her up with a quick, but passionate kiss. Elsa gasped in surprise and suddenly forgot what she wanted to say. She relaxed and embraced the other girl tightly, responding with another kiss.

She wanted to believe in everything she was hearing. She was scared, but after being scared her whole life, she didn't want that anymore. She wanted to be free. And she couldn't be free, unless she was truly honest with her sister.

"We're going to Arendelle together on Saturday", Honeymaren said with confidence when they broke out of the kiss. "Aren't we?"

Elsa sighed.

"We are."

* * *

Anna couldn't sit still from the moment she woke up. She kept walking around the castle and around the yard, thinking about what was about to happen.

Yesterday when she woke up, she found a letter on the windowsill of her room. She was nervous for Elsa never replied to invitations - she would always just come. Did something happen?

Her sister's neat handwriting revealed very few words.

_Dearest Anna,_

_please be kind to prepare one more spot for our activities. We will arrive before dinner._ _Elsa_

Though enigmatic as always, her sister admitted she will not be coming alone! It was truly exciting. She had suspected Elsa was having a secret relationship, but now she was about to know the guy personally!

Kristoff noticed Anna's behaviour was rather strange, but he decided not to intervene as long as she didn't make anything stupid. Her current mood swings could be unpredictable and he'd rather not risk a fight right before Elsa's visit. He generally preferred not to fight at all, believing nerves could have a bad influence on their baby.

However, after the castle bell rang, announcing it's high noon, and Anna was making yet another circle around the yard, he hesitantly came up to her and stopped her in place.

"My dear", he began, his voice as soft as he could make it, "is everything alright? You're usually..."

He stopped when Anna looked up at him. He couldn't get a clear interpretation of her face - she was either extremely excited or extremely angry. Any way, he was scared of messing up.

"Don't you think Elsa should be here already?", Anna blurted out. "She said she will be here before dinner. It is before dinner! Yesterday was technically before today's dinner too. When will she finally come? I can't stand this wait!"

"Woah, woah, slow down". Kristoff caught her hand carefully. "You two never set the time for meeting. She will come eventually, it's not like she can forget about it."

"So you're saying something had to happen if she didn't come?", she asked, gasping nervously.

"What? No, nothing had to happen", he answered quickly, but started thinking intensively. "I mean, if she doesn't come, it would probably mean so, because normally she will do everything to meet you here."

"Something happened!" Anna suddenly became pale, and tears quickly came to her eyes. "Something terrible happened, and it had to be today of all days!"

"No, wait!" Kristoff panicked, and tried to wipe away Anna's tears with his fingers. She threw herself into his arms, nearly smashing her round abdomen.

"Why can't she just visit us safely?", she sobbed, trying to catch a breath between spasms. Kristoff awkwardly rubbed her back.

"Anna, I'm sure Elsa's alright. Well... sure-", he bit his tongue before he could continue and make things even worse. "Don't worry about it. It's still early, if we get ourselves busy, the time will pass faster."

He kept rubbing her back until she stopped shaking, and a little longer. She slowly backed off, so she was standing straight on her own.

"Let's go", Kristoff suggested. "We can wait while sitting down inside and resting."

"I can't just sit down!"

"You can, and you will. You need to be more careful about yourself now, not throwing a little marathon here and there."

He glanced down at his wife's body and she realized what she had forgotten. Seven months into pregnancy she should keep herself active, but Kristoff was right - walking ten miles in three hours, with multiple stairs on the way, was probably a bit too much.

They walked hand in hand into the castle, Kristoff happy he prevented a disaster, Anna still overwhelmed with excitement.

* * *

Elsa woke up a lot later than she thought she would. Especially given the fact she was ridiculously stressed about what was going to happen. When she opened her eyes, the sun would already infiltrate her tent deeply, suggesting it was rather noon than morning. She panicked and tried to stand up quickly, but got stopped by a tight grip. Honeymaren mumbled something unintelligible and cuddled closer to her. Elsa's heart melted. She was heartbroken to do this, but they had to get up.

"Honey", she whispered. "It's time to go."

She got no response, so she gently rubbed her girlfriend's naked back.

"Wake up."

Honeymaren grimaced and shook her head, her eyes still closed.

"That's not true."

Elsa giggled. What was that supposed to mean?

"Come on, we don't have much time."

Eventually she got the girl to wake up. The latter wasn't really happy about that.

"Can't we stay?", she sighed dramatically and caressed Elsa's arm. Her touch made Elsa shiver from excitement and she closed her eyes.

"I can go alone, if you want to stay", she offered quietly, but Honeymaren quickly protested.

"I don't want to stay here without you!"

"And I'm leaving in ten minutes." Elsa looked into her eyes.

"Like this?", Honeymaren moved her hand along Elsa's body, still undressed after last night events. Elsa bit her lower lip and snapped her fingers. A new ice dress covered her within seconds.

"Like this."

"That's unfair!" Honeymaren hit the mattress with frustration.

"I'll go call Nokk", Elsa said, taking the girl's hand off her and kissing it gently. She stood up and headed to the exit. "See you in a moment."

Honeymaren groaned in response. Elsa laughed and left the tent.

The sun was high up in the blue sky, telling Elsa she would be late real soon. She reached her hand in the direction of nearby pond and quickly brought up a memory about Nokk, her beloved water spirit companion, when suddenly another friend joined. A tiny blue salamander jumped up her hand and made himself feel at home, rolling at her palm.

"Hi brother", she greeted Bruni in a sweet tone. "Ready for an adventure?"

The fire spirit stood up and stared at her with a smile. She took that as a yes.

Bruni made his way all up Elsa's arm and sat next to her neck. The woman tried once again to summon Nokk, this time successfully. The waters boiled and quick enough a big wave jumped out of the pond, forming in the shape of a playful horse. He trotted closer to her and lowered his head in a greeting. Elsa nodded and patted the horse's neck, turning him into solid ice. He shook his new crystal mane and let out a happy nicker. She smiled briefly.

She was just about to create a bridle, when Honeymaren walked out of the tent and gasped. Elsa turned around, surprised.

"Listen, I know you ride him regularly, but I'm slightly afraid of coming closer than three steps", Honeymaren stated, hiding behind Elsa's back.

"You're safe when you're with me", the blonde girl assured her, finally putting bridle around the horse's head.

"Can't we just take the casual reindeer wagon?"

"It will be faster this way. Don't you trust me?"

Elsa gracefully jumped on the horse's back and reached out for Honeymaren. The latter hesitantly came closer to the horse.

"Hello." She gently patted his neck and pulled her hand towards his back, stopping at Elsa's slender leg. "Please don't kill me. Both of you."

She grabbed Elsa's hand and jumped behind her. She let out a short scream.

"COLD!"

Elsa raised her eyebrows. Well, she wasn't wrong, they were literally sitting on ice. It couldn't be helped.

"I'm sorry. You'll get used to it." She shrugged.

"If my parts freeze, I'll-"

"I'll gladly unfreeze them in any way I can", Elsa turned around and kissed the nervous girl on the cheek. It turned red instantly, but Honeymaren didn't say anything else. She just pulled herself close to Elsa and buried her face in her neck.

The girls rushed out of the Forest, and towards Arendelle. The road was long, but Nokk was impossibly fast, making them arrive real quick.

They stopped at the edge of the town and Honeymaren immediately jumped off the horse. She cursed under her breath, shivering. She kept moving her legs up and down, desperately trying to get herself warm.

"I'm sorry, Honey", Elsa said worriedly. She dismounted Nokk and dismissed him with a single gesture. The horse jumped and disappeared into the fjord. "I didn't expect it to be this bad."

"It is!", Honeymaren cried out. The girls cuddled close and Elsa tried giving her a series of warm kisses all over her face. Bruni left Elsa's arm and ran back and forth through Honeymaren's back. "It doesn't help", the other girl murmured, doing her best to sound angry.

Elsa carefully grabbed her girlfriend's hand and kissed it too.

"As soon as we arrive to the castle, I'll give you all the blankets possible. And if it doesn't work, I'll try to use... other methods", she smirked, saying the last words. Honeymaren couldn't help but respond with the same.

"I hope it doesn't", she whispered into Elsa's ear.

There was only one way to the castle, and it led through the middle of town. It was time to decide whether they make this way holding hands, or still hiding.

After thinking about this moment for forever, Elsa had no idea what to do. Every plan of hers seemed to be a bad plan. She wanted to turn away and run back to the forest, but it was too late. She had said it's over for the fear, and now she had to make those words real.

The girls squeezed each others' hands and started walking towards old Elsa's home, together. Elsa did her best not to look around and just focus on where she's going, so she avoided looks from the curious town crowd.

Honeymaren on the other hand, observed everything around them and got more and more thrilled with every step. She visited Arendelle just once, a year ago, for Queen Anna's coronation. It was an interesting experience, but she didn't feel emotional about this place - unlike now. Now this place was connected to her lover, and it suddenly turned exciting.

They quickly reached the castle gates, wide open and welcoming. Royal guards standing on both sides of the entrance saluted at the sight of Elsa, and she bowed back, dismissing them. Honeymaren tried to awkwardly imitate her moves, which made Elsa laugh a little, but she restrained herself. She stepped onto the courtyard confidently.

"There aren't a lot of people here", Honeymaren noticed. Elsa nodded.

"Anna usually chooses days when she has little to zero work to invite me", she explained. The last time Honeymaren was here, the castle was filled with locals and foreigners, there was little to no space to move. Elsa thought she must have disliked this visit and found it uncomfortable.

They stood in front of the main door and nearby servants immediately rushed to open it for them. Elsa's heart raced in her chest. That was it. No going back now. She probably had seconds before Anna jumped out of the castle and onto her.

"Would you mind waiting here for a minute?", she whispered into Honeymaren's ear, letting go if her hand. The other girl looked surprised.

"Why?"

"I want to prepare Anna for us. I don't know if she expected-"

"Go", Honeymaren interrupted her before she could finish. "I'm not in a mood to fight over what you were going to say."

Elsa smiled apologetically and disappeared inside the hallway. She looked around, expecting Anna to appear from nowhere.

Was it too late and her sister went for the dinner without her?

"Hello?", she said loudly, and heard rushed footsteps in response. Soon enough Anna appeared on top of the staircase. Much to Elsa's relief, she seemed to be alone.

"Elsa!" The girl ran down the stairs with her arms wide open. Elsa greeted her the same way and in the next second they were both cuddled closely. The older sister pulled back carefully, feeling a soft obstacle between them.

"How is our little heir doing?", she asked jokingly, putting her shaking hand on Anna's round belly. The other girl clapped her hands.

"He's doing amazing! At least I feel so, so he must too!"

Elsa smiled. Her sister's happiness shared easily and suddenly she felt a lot warmer and more confident than a few minutes ago. She gathered all the courage to speak up, but wasn't the first one to do so.

"What about your boyfriend?", Anna blurted out, close to jumping up and down from excitement. "Where is he? Stop playing with us, we know!"

"Actually, about that." Elsa took a deep breath and bit her lip nervously. "I didn't really bring a boyfriend with me..."

"Yeah, I know, you're just friends. Gerda suspected that you would say this."

"No, Anna, not exactly." She looked at her sister seriously, hoping it would calm her down a little. "I didn't bring a single man at all."

"But you wrote to me that there's someone coming with you! We got prepared and everything!"

"She's right", a soft voice accompanied her. Gerda came out of the closest corridor and stood a few steps away from the sisters.

"But I didn't come alone", Elsa added quickly.

"Bruni doesn't count, wherever he is", Anna judged, raising her eyebrows. "Elsa..."

"Icamewithmygirlfriend."

Elsa couldn't believe she really said it. Did she? Maybe no one heard her?

Anna and Gerda's faces however told her that she actually did say it out loud. And they understood every single word.

She saw excitement extinguish in Anna's eyes and she instantly regretted everything. She wanted to run away, preferably to her ice palace, freeze the door and never come out. Why was everything so hard?

"I'm sorry", she mumbled and stepped back awkwardly. She felt tears coming up to her eyes. "I should have warned you..."

Suddenly Anna bursted out with the loudest, the ugliest cry. Elsa thought she's never seen her sister like this - it must have truly destroy her. The ice queen's heart broke, but then somehow she was again wrapped in her sister's thin arms, in the strongest hug in the world.

"Is this why you wouldn't tell me?", Anna gasped between breaths. She couldn't really say anything else, as she was crying too hard. Elsa let a single tear drop down her face.

"Kind of", she whispered. She felt another arm touching her back and lifted her head to see Gerda, smiling widely.

"What is there to hide?", the elder woman said in a happy tone. "Are you happy with her?" Elsa nodded. "That's what matters the most."

Elsa couldn't stop tears anymore, but this time it was happy tears. It was over. Over for fear, over for hiding, over for pretending someone who she isn't.

"What is happening?" Kristoff ran into the hallway through the main entrance, panting heavily. He noticed the scene and didn't know how to react - seeing his wife openly crying, cuddled tight to her sister. Lately his wife cried... a lot. It could mean anything. He went for the neutral option. "And why is Honeymaren standing alone in front of the castle?"

"HONEYMAREN?", Anna yelled, crying even harder. Kristoff panicked - he didn't expect to make things worse. "Was it that obvious?!"

Elsa stepped back, letting Anna fall into Kristoff's arms. She didn't stop crying for a second. Kristoff didn't understand what's going on at all.

"Yeah it's kind of... well... I'll just..." Elsa gestured with her arms, accidentally creating a small snowfall between them. She clenched her fists quickly and headed to the door. "Honey?"

"AND SHE CALLS HER "HONEY"", Anna cried out, laughing warmly.

Elsa stared at the ground as her girlfriend entered the room, quickly reaching for her hand. They held onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Honeymaren used her free hand to wave awkwardly.

"Hello everyone."

Hearing her firm voice echoing through the castle walls, Elsa felt nothing but relief. They belonged here together. There was nothing wrong with that. She did the right thing.

Kristoff looked between Elsa and Honeymaren with confusion.

"You two..."

"We're close to our one year anniversary", Honeymaren announced, making Elsa blush and stare into the floor even harder. This was unnecessary.

Anna suddenly stopped crying and fire started in her eyes.

"YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME FOR A WHOLE YEAR?", she screamed. Elsa shivered - and it wasn't from the cold. "I thought we didn't have secrets!"

"I didn't know how to say this", Elsa tried to excuse herself.

"I told her we should do this earlier", Honeymaren mentioned.

"You're not helping, Honey."

"Hey, what matters is now we know everything, right?", Kristoff concluded. Anna took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He slowly and rhythmically stroked her back, doing his best to help.

Elsa looked up, unsure whether she can handle her sister's mood. It was truly unpredictable, and hard to deal with.

Anna struggled out of the Kristoff's grasp and stood in front of Elsa. She reached out for her sister's hands and they connected firmly. Anna smiled and Elsa responded with the same.

"I'm happy you told me, sis", Anna admitted.

"Thank you", Elsa replied. "It's really important for me."

Anna turned to Honeymaren, not letting go of Elsa's hands.

"My dear, I'm absolutely delighted by the fact my sister has you as her significant other. However remember, if you ever try to hurt her, you will face not only her ice powers, but also face me." She winked mysteriously.

Honeymaren opened her mouth but had no idea how to react. She didn't expect this thing from Anna - it was nearly the same words Ryder said to Elsa when they first started meeting. Except for the ice powers part of course.

Anna clapped her hands and laughed.

"Now, let's go for dinner! It's like a double date!"

She half-walked, half-ran towards the dining room. Kristoff followed her and Elsa looked after them, reaching for Honeymaren's hand. They slowly went with the other's steps.

"See, it wasn't that bad", Honeymaren pointed out.

"It was hard, but I'm glad I- we did it", Elsa gave her lover a quick kiss on the cheek. Honey smiled enigmaticly and leaned over to Elsa's ear.

"I'm still freezing, you know", she whispered. Elsa smirked.

"Wait until we're in the bedroom, at least."

"I'VE HEARD THAT", Anna yelled from inside of the room.

Both girls laughed. It was going to be great from now on.


End file.
